Men’s Cross Country Captures America East Pre-Conference Title; Women Place Third

VESTAL, N.Y. – UMBC junior Eric Schuler (Columbia,
Md./Reservoir) took top individual honors with sophomore Redatu
Semeon (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone) close behind in second as the
UMBC men's cross country team won the America East Pre-Conference
Meet, Saturday at Binghamton University.

Sophomore Nicole Dawson (Jessup, Md./Hammond) led the way for
the women's squad which finished third overall behind Albany and
Vermont.

Schuler's win is the first of his career and marks the second
time he has paced the squad after leading the way at the Mason
Invitational last season. Each of the Retrievers' five
scoring runners finished in the top-15 as seniors Jake Albino
(Hampton, N.Y./Minisink Valley) and Andrew Smith (Chadds Ford,
Pa./Garnet Valley) placed 11th (26:03.3) and 13th (26:06.0),
respectively.

In the women's race, a 5k event, Albany's Brittney Lane won the
race in a time of 18:13.4 as the Great Danes (28 pts.) edged
Vermont (31 pts.). UMBC scored a total of 82 pts. with
Binghamton (114) and UMass Lowell (120) rounding out the
standings.

For the Retrievers, Dawson's run (19:15.5) gives the sophomore
her first lead-run after scoring in each of the Retrievers' seven
competitions a year ago. Freshman Sarah Zielinski (Boonsboro,
Md./Boonsboro) earned a scoring spot in her first collegiate meet,
taking 13th overall in a time of 19:16.8. Senior captain Cody
Mezebish (Westminster, Md./South River) placed 15th (19:25.3) with
freshman Cindy Alms (Fulton, Md./Reservoir) and junior Sarah Daly
(Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) finishing the scoring in 20th
(19:42.7) and 23rd place (19:50.6).

Sophomore Angel Bucci (Upper Darby, Pa./Upper Darby) and junior
Julie Gessler (Ellicott City, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) did not
score for the Black and Gold, but finished in the top-30.

UMBC now has just a week off before traveling to Annapolis for
the Navy Invitational/Salty Dog Invitational next Saturday, Sept.
14.

DAWG BITES

Schuler's time is the second-fastest on the men's 8k course
during Binghamton's 13-year Division I era. Donald Drake of
Maine set the Division I era course record of 25:29 in 2005.